My father was exhibiting extreme tiredness, weakness, & weight loss; it was to the point that even his hygiene started to lag because he wanted to spend so much time sleeping. His regular doc had diagnosed him with some depression, which is quite common among seniors who have experienced illness & death in their social & family circles. 24 hours after his depression diagnosis, while I & my sister-in-law were watching him eat a lunch that we'd prepared (he didn't have the energy to even make his own typical soup & sandwich), he fainted in mid-chew and began to choke on his sandwich! After administering the Heimlich manuever & learning that my dad felt disoriented and as if his eyesight were darkened, we called 911 thinking perhaps he was having a stroke.
It turns out he was in the terminal stages of cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile duct), which was inoperable, not so much because of age, but because it was also discovered that his liver was cirrhotic. This was a stunning shock - not so much the cancer but rather the cirrhosis! He had never been a drinker and had never had hepatitis. The docs had no reason to explain the genesis of the liver damage, "idiopathic." One asked whether he had been exposed to radiation.
In the weeks following his death, after watching his terrible suffering and pain as the docs let the cancer have its way, I just had to find out why and how this had happened. Not just to know what happened to him, but to avoid this fate for myself and for my kids.
Turns out that refined carbohydrate consumption may contribute to chronically elevated blood sugar, which in turn may lead to what is called fatty liver. Fatty liver may then evolve into Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), which can damage the liver, having just the same result as alcoholic cirrhosis. This is precisely the process whereby the French delicacy foie gras is made; ducks are force-fed corn to produce an exceptionally fatty liver that is buttery in flavor. What's bad for the goose is bad for the man, too!
What is shocking is that this was evidently completely off the radar screen for the doctors who consulted in my father's case even knowing that he was DIABETIC. Hepatitis C, alcohol abuse, and fatty liver are the most common causes of cirrhosis of the liver. Turns out 10-20% of all Americans have fatty livers. And 2-5% of all Americans have NASH & probably don't know that they have it. Absolutely tragic! Please, educate yourself:
- http://www.digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/nash/
- http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nonalcoholic-fatty-liver-disease/DS00577
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_liver
- http://journal.diabetes.org/clinicaldiabetes/v17n21999/Pg73.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment